UNICEF Consultancy Opportunity: UPSHIFT Communications Consultant (12 Months Remote)

Location: Remote (Duty Station: Stockholm, Sweden)
Contract Duration: 12 Months
Application Deadline: 24 June 2025

About UNICEF

UNICEF operates in some of the most challenging environments around the world to support the most disadvantaged children. Its mission spans 190 countries and territories, working every day to save children’s lives, defend their rights, and help them achieve their potential. With over 70 years of experience, UNICEF continues to innovate for children, creating and scaling solutions that improve lives.

About the Office of Innovation and UPSHIFT

The UNICEF Office of Innovation (OoI) serves as a creative and agile team that bridges humanitarian goals with startup thinking, advanced technology, and innovative partnerships. As the custodian of the UPSHIFT initiative, the Office engages daily with global and country-level teams to promote youth empowerment through innovation and entrepreneurial thinking.

UPSHIFT is a global skills development initiative tailored for young people. Blending non-formal education, experiential learning, and entrepreneurship, UPSHIFT equips youth with the ability to identify local challenges and develop viable solutions. The program includes mentorship, workshops, and seed funding for top ideas. Since 2014, UPSHIFT has reached 5 million young people across 56 countries, with over 120 million learning hours completed and 1 million young people completing the full program in 2024 alone.

The Role

To support the rapid expansion of UPSHIFT and its integration into national education systems in 12 countries (with more to follow), UNICEF is seeking a qualified UPSHIFT Communications Consultant. This consultant will play a critical role in enhancing advocacy and communication efforts by working closely with the Partnerships and Communications team, Country Offices, and Regional Offices.

The consultant will be responsible for content creation, campaign development, and managing communication assets that capture UPSHIFT’s global impact and showcase successful projects developed by youth.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop editorial content including articles, press releases, human interest stories, and advocacy materials for digital and traditional media channels.
• Oversee the production of advocacy materials such as videos and audio-visual content, ensuring quality, consistency, and alignment with UNICEF’s branding standards.
• Collaborate with the UPSHIFT Global Lead to maintain and update the SharePoint-based deployment toolkit.
• Identify opportunities to showcase UPSHIFT at UNICEF and Office of Innovation events.
• Maintain and expand the existing communications asset library, including videos, photos, publications, press clippings, and social media content.
• Design and implement a framework to document and present the 50 most impactful youth-led projects across participating countries.
• Provide strategic input on communication materials and recommend tools for media and advocacy use.
• Assist in broader communication duties as assigned by the supervisor, contributing to content development and campaign planning.

Qualifications and Experience

• An advanced university degree in education, communications, information technology, or a related field is required. A first-level degree with an additional two years of relevant experience may be accepted in lieu of an advanced degree.
• At least five years of relevant professional experience in communications, editorial content creation, and social media management.
• Strong writing skills with the ability to create compelling, accurate content for diverse audiences under tight deadlines.
• Demonstrated ability to independently manage content development projects and deliver results.
• Proven experience in visual content creation, including infographics, presentation decks, and reports.
• Strong organizational and interpersonal skills with the ability to work effectively across multiple stakeholders and cultural contexts.
• Experience managing communications campaigns and familiarity with children’s rights, public policy, or international development is an advantage.
• Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian, or Spanish) is an asset.
• This role is fully remote; no travel is required.

Contract Terms

This consultancy is performance-based, and payments will be made upon submission and approval of agreed deliverables. UNICEF reserves the right to withhold payment if the deliverables are not satisfactory or submitted late. Applicants must submit a financial proposal using the provided template, including all costs such as fees, travel, insurance, and taxes. Applications without a financial proposal will not be considered.

For further details, candidates should review the full Terms of Reference (ToR) and Financial Proposal Template provided in the application portal.

General Conditions

Consultants are not considered UNICEF staff members and are not entitled to benefits under staff regulations. They are responsible for their own tax obligations and must ensure valid health insurance coverage for the duration of the contract. All selected candidates must comply with UNICEF’s standards on child safeguarding, ethics, and professional conduct. UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on all forms of exploitation, abuse, discrimination, and harassment.

Application Process

Interested applicants must apply by 24 June 2025, through the UNICEF Careers Portal. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

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